My neck has been acting up a lot. I had one of those ridiculous moments where I looked down too abruptly and something pulled in my left shoulder. So now I can’t turn to the left very well, and walking/driving is uncomfortable.
But I’m still continuing to workout my muscles
My sequence today was a restorative yoga practice to open up the low back, hips, and relax my muscles through a moving meditation.
1. Started out lying down knees bent hip distance apart. Let them lazily drop to the left, and then the right to relax the low back muscles gently.
Repeat x6
2. Inhale, I extended the legs up feet flexed while lowering the arms almost down to the floor
Exhale, lowered the feet back to the floor, knees still bent, and placed right palm over the the left hand and allowed the back of my right hand to place pressure on the forehead.
***I’ve been getting headaches due to spasming in my neck, so pressure on the forehead helps calm and rid of the headaches.
Repeat x6
3. Knees bent, still lying down. Extended the right leg up, pointed the toes, ankle rolls. Repeat other leg. 5 sets.
4. Hugged the knees into my chest for apanasana
Made circles with the knees to the right, then the left
Then, keeping the knees bent, let the thighs spread out the sides, and made circles with the thighs in, and out.
5. Happy baby
6. Yesterday I did stair master, squats with the smyth machine, grand plies with a kettle ball, calve raises, and donkey kicks (none of which bothered my neck!!!), so my hamstrings felt very good, but hips were tight.
Because my hamstrings felt wonderful, I sat in a side “splits,” let my right arm reach toward my left toes, and left arm extend over my ear, left fingertips reaching for right toes. This felt WONDERFUL in my low back. At one point I let the lower arm act as a kickstand to support my neck.
7. Crossed the legs in a seated position with the ankles flexed and, with a flat back, let both arms extend forward and head gently relax down (the neck muscles are very tight in the back of my neck right now…)
8. Sat in Baddha Konasana (knees bent, backs of feet touching) with my back supported against my couch. Held this pose while I watched Jimmy Fallon with my family (jajajaja) and let my hips restoratively open.
8. Opened my upper back in a similar fashion as Bridge Pose would, but without the pressure on my shoulders/neck.
Knees bent, snuggled my body down until my shoulders, but not my head/neck, touched the top of the couch. I bent my arms, kind of like in fish pose, and lifted my heart toward the ceiling.
—For anyone wondering WHY DOES SHANNEN DO YOGA??? And for people with anxiety, panic, or depression.
***This is mainly about my personal journey!!! Next Thurs’s post will be the facts on why keeping a routine of exercising, regular sleep, and eating healthily keeps anxiety at bay <3333
Everyone begins their yoga practice for different reasons. Maybe it was because Victoria’s Secret has models wearing their new yoga pants that say “PINK” across the butt, or because their friends were all trying classes so they thought what the hell, why not. Or perhaps their doctor recommended yoga as a part of their healing process…or they believe yoga will make them look like a sexy Victoria’s Secret model.
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I started a serious yoga practice in my junior year of high school when I was forever falling deeper down a black hole of anxiety and had worn out all my other options. It was really just a lucky guess that yoga helped me. I always thought my brain was just messed up, until I did some research.
“My brain is wired differently follow a formula to breathe, but someone fucked up the formula so the answer is always wrong.” – lyrics from a collab I did with The Unending Thread called ‘Brains.’
Anxiety. Panic. Depression. They’re really all linked. For those who have it, or have had it, they understand. For those that haven’t, let me explain.
Anxiety – A feeling of dread. Of being nervous. Scared that something bad might happen. Scared in general. Side effects: Profusely sweating, parched mouth, shaky hands, stuttering, stomach aches, shortness of breath
Panic – Some call it an anxiety attack, others call it a panic attack. A few minutes of terror, or sometimes much, much longer. Side effects: Change in body temperature (from feeling literally lit on fire, to completely freezing in the snow), shaking or twitching of the body, hyperventilation, stomach aches, unable to speak well or at all, screaming or crying about general fear And in extreme cases: hallucination, loss of vision, loss of hearing, blacking out
Depression – Feeling sad, down, dreading life. No motivation to do anything. Can last for a day, a few hours.
Clinical Depression – Can cause inability to work, sleep, focus, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. Often times, clinical depression can come and go in cycles and may last weeks, months, or a year. Side Effects: Over-eating, fatigue, over-sleeping, sensitivity to specific subjects, not eating at all, not sleeping at all, mood swings
Treatment Options For All of the Above – Smoke weed, drink all day everyday, pop some pills, have your boyfriend/girlfriend baby you and deal with your attacks, pay for counseling, or exercise + sleep + eat well.
It took me a long time to figure out that beautiful and cheap formula to freedom. To happiness of the Self.
On top of high school, I was teaching 10 students, running a club I founded known as Music & Songwriting Club, recording my solo songs on the side, and performing almost every weekend…plus school and homework. The club is really what took over my life. Meetings once a week, lunch shows twice a month, festivals once a semester. I wrote many songs about my anxiety.
Also, due to many injuries, I had just quit dancing for Santa Clarita Ballet Company-which is no doubt the most serious, demanding, and prestigious ballet studio in the valley.
Going from dancing 5 times a week plus production rehearsals, shows, and Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) exams to no exercise at all and being in chronic pain was the scariest transition of my life. And at a tender age of 16, I really didn’t know how to cope well with the abrupt change.
My mother had always kept me busy. She thought it wise to do many things at once, to give 100% effort to all, and to finish them. To not quit.
I quit dance.
But I had to for my body’s health. It was stressing me out trying to push my body to be at the level of my fellow dancers that, besides becoming injured, my stomach compensated for the amount of the stress. I began to have the worst stomach problems. At times, I was completely bedridden because of the pain.
My mother has always been a health junkie. Whether it be running, tennis, swimming, Gilad cardio videos, Pilates, or yoga, she’s alway been a work-out-aholic. When I was 12 and had received my first knee injury, she suggested I go to yoga with her. That maybe it’ll encourage me to stay active, to keep my body moving, even with an injury.
I freaked out when I saw my mother do a headstand in class…I didn’t even try.
When I quit dance, she became very worried that I wouldn’t ever be active again. We all know how moms are, they are persistent and worry often. She handed me a Rodney Yee yoga video and told me to “try it when I get a chance” meaning, “you better not get fat so start exercising!”
I didn’t finally pop in the DVD until I felt completely sick. Physically, and mentally ill, weak, and vulnerable.
“I do it because it makes me feel happy. As if the whole world were happy because I am. Obey the whispering secrets that promise, and guarantee my bliss and sanity. I am happy.” – lyrics from my song ‘Happy.’
Everyday, I repeated the tape.
I had no idea what I was doing or what the hell yoga actually was, but I followed Rodney hoping this thing called “yoga” would make my anxiety, stomach problems, and injuries go away.
Is that too much to ask for?
By my senior year, I felt completely happy. It was so new to me, this happiness. The loss of stress. My friends noticed it too. They told me I didn’t get mad as often, that I could deal with stressful situations very well, and adapted easily to change. Slowly, secretly, my friends began to reveal that they were beginning to have anxiety, or panic, or depression, and I became the go-to-advisor.
“Don’t think I don’t understand, don’t think I can’t feel. I have emotions. What you feel is real. Terrors torture. They don’t leave when you close your eyes at night.” lyrics from GrowYoung’s song ‘Screams Echo Alone.’
My first actual class was at YogaYoga in Newhall when I was 17. Immediately after class I asked the owner, “how do I become a teacher?” I took one of their hardest classes, and the instructor suggested I move on to practicing at YogaWorks and to take their teacher training instead because it’s more known and detailed.
Both my mom and I began taking classes 3 to 5 times a week at YogaWorks Valencia in the summer that I graduated high school.
And now I am here. Graduated from my 200 Hour Teacher Training at YogaWorks Valencia in November of 2012. Soon to be taking the 300 Hour Training in August 2015.
Usually, I feel the reason I go to my mat is to cope with my neck injury and to keep my mood balanced. However, sometimes I still have a bit of anxiety on especially stressful days. But I work through it, because now I have the tools to do so. I’ll never forget why I began my practice, my roots. History is important to remember, so it does not repeat itself. If you begin to taste the indigestion of your past rising up onto your tastebuds, acknowledge it, and begin to retrain your brain. Remember the steps you took to get back to your own bliss. Though you may need a little help on the way, only you can blow your candle out. Only you can light your way.
Yoga is my medicine. And my injuries are my best teachers.
–For anyone who has chronic back/neck pain or wants to correct their posture –And for my Monday night LA Fit students and Tuesday 930AM Fitness Compound students xox
In the image below, the first shows how many of us start in class when I say “start in a seated position on your mats.” The back is rounded and slumped over lazily, and the neck is crunched. This is also how a lot of us sit at our 9 to 5 jobs in the office. Sitting like this can cause back and neck pain, and reduces oxygen to the brain by not allowing the stomach’s full capacity to expand in and out as your breathe.
I guided my students to gain correct posture so there is space to then open up the shoulders and neck later in class.
Start in a cross-legged seated meditation. Close your eyes, feel your breath, and notice the state of your body today.
1. Literally use your hands to move the flesh of your bum out to create more space
2. Root down into your sitbones, let your spine and head rebound up but keep the chin level with the floor!!
3. Engage the core
4. Spread wide across the collarbones
5. Roll the shoulders back and down
6. Lift the sternum up slightly
7. Soften the frontal ribs down
A friend of mine who was many herniated vertebrae once told me,
“The more you keep your vertebrae aligned throughout the day, the less pain you will have.”
After I received whiplash to my neck, I took his words to heart and really focused on always maintaining correct posture. Stay aware of your posture, it’s something we all have to constantly work on
I challenge you to complete your whole yoga practice by moving your body with your core. Consciously let your core move you into the next pose. The minute you feel your other body parts tense up, stop. Take a break, perhaps childs pose, and pinpoint your core again.
I chose to practice yoga tonight with this mindset because I am retraining my body to activate individually, so that eventually, my neck won’t feel the need to tense up to compensate for lack of strength. Also because my goal is to be able to do a handstand with the grace and ease of one of favorite yoga instructors – Mackenzie Miller.
Mackenzie Miller is one of the many yoga instructors that inspires me today. Her whole body is extremely strong and flexible, allowing her to do beautiful handstand variations and back bends with ease and grace. Her instagram videos (@mackenzieyoga), have inspired me to set my newest goal, and to find a new way to meet it.
Goal: To do a handstand by using my CORE instead of KICKING UP.
Obstacles: Avoiding muscle spasms and tension in the neck….
when my core activates
in weight bearing poses in general
and when I am upside down.
Tonight I focused on avoiding muscle spams/tension in my neck when my core activates with Half Sun Salutations, standing oblique stretches, and playing with variations of plank.
I literally went through each motion in Half Sun Salutation at snail speed…my core was burning, and my neck was learning to stay calm. I also did a few side stretches holding the wrists, focusing on letting my core move my body into the pose – into the side stretch.
I ended up playing with plank, forearm plank, and side plank with my knees on and off the ground to begin working through my second obstacle. Also went from plank to down dog. My neck DID tense up a few times, and I took child’s pose manyyy times, but baby steps!! I know I will get there, and this is huge progress for me
